Stormy skies fail to flood B.O.

Attendance flat on B'way

Closing notices produced a few minor upticks at the box office last week. Otherwise, an exceptionally wet August did not send people rushing off the beach and into the theaters. Broadway receipts fell $33,454 or 0.23% as 28 shows brought in $14,833,878, a record for this time frame. Paid attendance came to 223,339, right in line with past Augusts and way ahead of the 174,517 registered a year ago.

Those aforementioned shutter sheets produced modest five-figure bounces for “Aida” ($693,809), “Caroline, or Change” ($314,090), “Frozen” ($119,900) and “Little Shop of Horrors” ($376,054). Up $148,701, “The Boy From Oz” ($1,060,941) grew somewhat more as it went from seven to eight perfs.

Exit dates for the above shows range from Aug. 22 to Sept. 12. At least two other shows look wobbly enough to join the exodus. If they can manage to stay put, mid-September looks to host a better-than-average tally of 23 productions.

Richard Dreyfuss’ final full week in “Sly Fox” ($324,799) produced a decrease of $5,874 from the previous session. After his final perf tonight, he headed for the West End and rehearsals for “The Producers.”

A few managed to grow, but not by much: “Fiddler on the Roof” ($550,101), “Rent” ($378,567), “Dracula” ($313,620), “Forever Tango” ($227,851) and “I Am My Own Wife” ($186,346), which increased its take $15,465 going from seven to eight perfs.

Business as usual: Up $4,424, “Avenue Q” ($501,135) set another house record at the Golden Theater. The tiny tuner also grabbed its highest slot to date, No. 14, on the box office chart.